Evacuation out of the question: In Kinston — and likely elsewhere in eastern North Carolina, home to some of the state's greatest pockets of poverty — evacuation isn't possible.(Photo11: Sam DeGrave, USA TODAY NETWORK)

KINSTON, N.C. — As Hurricane Florence churned toward the North Carolina coast Wednesday, Gov. Roy Cooper tripled down on a warning he’s been issuing for days: Get out of this storm’s way.

“This monster of a storm is not one to ride out,” Cooper said from the steps of the state Department of Public Safety’s emergency management staging site in eastern North Carolina.

That message came on the heels of the governor’s morning hurricane briefing from Raleigh and only hours before he would travel back to the state’s capital for another press conference and more warnings.

But in Kinston — a town of nearly 21,000 people living 30 miles of west of New Bern, where the Neuse River widens on its way to the Outer Banks — the governor’s urgent warning went largely unheeded.

Having only two years ago lived through Hurricane Matthew, which devastated portions of the state’s eastern reaches, some Kinston residents chose to stay — battle-hardened hurricane survivors ready for another bout with a different storm.

Others, constrained by economic circumstance, remained because they had no choice.

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Luis Gomez rescues baby chicks from floodwaters caused by Hurricane Florence near the Todd Swamp, Friday, in Longs, South Carolina. Floodwaters are expected to rise in the area in through the weekend. Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Denise Milligan holds her grandson, 2-year-old Hunter, and two of her dogs above the water as she is escorted to dry ground at Lee's Landing Circle, Sept. 21, 2018 in Conway, S.C. With muddy river water still washing over entire communities on Friday, eight days after Hurricane Florence slammed into land with nearly 3 feet of rain, new evacuation orders forced residents to flee to higher ground amid a sprawling disaster that's beginning to feel like it will never end. Jason Lee/AP

Dana Taylor, pets her dog Brownie after being evacuated with her children Dana 7, and Timothy, 9, right, from their flooded neighborhood as Florence continues to dump heavy rain in Fayetteville, N.C., Sept. 16, 2018. David Goldman, AP

Dana Taylor, pets her dog Brownie after being evacuated with her children Dana 7, and Timothy, 9, right, from their flooded neighborhood as Florence continues to dump heavy rain in Fayetteville, N.C., on Sept. 16, 2018. DAVID GOLDMAN, AP

Jody Jones kisses his pit bull Emma along Nine Foot Road in Newport, N.C. on Sept. 16, 2018, after sharing a meal with her. Jones lost everything after his home was destroyed by Hurricane Florence. ROBERT WILLETT, The News & Observer via AP

Roanoke Police Officer Spradlin carries Lucky, a poodle and Petey, a chihuahua as their owner, Chris Elliott, back center, is helped into the Berglund Special Events Center where the Red Cross has a shelter set up for people in need, on Sept. 16, 2018 in Roanoke, Va. HEATHER ROSSEAU, The Roanoke Times via AP

Volunteers from all over North Carolina help rescue residents and their pets from their flooded homes during Florence Sept. 14, 2018 in New Bern, N.C. Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 1 storm and flooding from the heavy rain is forcing hundreds of people to call for emergency rescues in the area around New Bern, which sits at the confluence of the Nuese and Trent rivers. CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

In this image from video, a resident rescues a dog by boat in floodwaters in Jacksonville, N.C., Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. As floodwaters rise from Hurricane Florence some residents are volunteering to perform animal rescues by boat in flooded neighborhoods. ROBERT BUMSTEAD/AP

Laura Gretch the Humane Rescue Alliance transport manager, holds Frances, an 8-year-old Chihuahua mix who is one of the 26 cats and dogs arriving at the center in Washington, DC from Norfolk, Va., in advance of Hurricane Florence, Sept. 11, 2018. AP

Lisa Rawson looks over the possessions she grabbed from her apartment in Myrtle Beach, S.C., which are now spread out at a campground at the Atlanta Motor Speedway along with her two dogs and a cockatoo, Sept. 12, 2018 in Hampton, Ga. AP

Stanford, a 6-month old Chihuahua mix, looks out from a crate along with 26 other cats and dogs as they arrive at the Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington, DC from Norfolk, Va., Sept. 11, 2018 in advance of Hurricane Florence. AP

Chickens and ducks rest inside an inclosure made in the home of Scott Perkins and John Hembree to hold two combined families' pets, Sept. 12, 2018, in Chesapeake, Va., as Hurricane Florence moves towards the eastern shore. = AP

Amanda Glaze says goodbye to Hi-Ho Silver outside the Portsmouth Humane Society, in Portsmouth, Va. The Humane Society of the United States, Animal Rescue Team relocated cats and dogs from the Portsmouth Humane Society in preparation of Hurricane Florence. AP

Waylon the dog, left, Meredith Reddick, middle, and her father Gordon owner of Redix store, stand with plywood covered windows Sept. 11, 2018. They have used the same boards since 1993, and wrote names for each storm since then. Ken Ruinard, USA TODAY NETWORK

Poverty is an anchor for many in Kinston, home to some of North Carolina’s most economically distressed neighborhoods despite its budding reputation as a food destination.

Kinston resident Ben Knight watched Wednesday as a small team of workers fastened sheets of plywood to the windows of Chef & the Farmer — a nationally renowned restaurant in the heart of downtown that Knight owns with his wife Vivian Howard.

Knight said he’d elected to stay behind while Howard and their children headed west, out of Florence’s reach.

“I think a lot more people have left for this storm, but most people in this town will stay,” Knight said. “With the median income of this town being less than half of the national average, some people will have to stay.”

Evacuating 'not an option' for some

No home to leave: Tony Clower, 39, would like to follow the governor's advice and evacuate, but he's homeless.(Photo11: Sam DeGrave, USA TODAY NETWORK)

Clower said he thinks others in Kinston should heed Cooper’s warning, advice he said he’d follow if he could.

“I think people should listen when he says to leave because this is going to be a bad storm,” Clower said. “Some people are getting out of town, but that’s not an option for me. I have no money, no job, no connections.”

Jasper Newborn, who runs the city’s only emergency homeless shelter, said that on any given night, he’ll house about 15 people, but that “represents less than 10 percent of the city’s homeless population.” The rest, he said, sleep on the street or wherever else they can find shelter.

National Weather Service radar at 8:15 p.m. Sept. 15, 2018(Photo11: Courtesy of National Weather Service)

And as Hurricane Florence looms, he said he’s worried what will happen to the city’s homeless residents who decide not to seek refuge. Friends of the Homeless, the shelter which Newborn founded in 1990, only has 35 beds, but he said he won't be turning anybody away during the storm.

Clower said he planned to weather the storm in a small wooden shed in which a friend was letting him live.

“Getting out of dodge is not always easy; it’s not always cheap,” Newborn said. “You’ve got to have transportation. You’ve got to have housing. That all costs money.”

Kinston has a 30 percent poverty rate, according to 2015 U.S. Census data – nearly double that of North Carolina as a whole.

A 2014 study by the Center for Urban & Regional Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill found a Census tract within Kinston to be the state’s most distressed among rural areas for its poverty rate, per capita income and unemployment.

'Where else I got to go?'

Empty for now: Friends of the Homeless Emergency Shelter, in downtown Kinston, stood empty Wednesday afternoon as Cleoxin Waters restocked supplies. But come Thursday, when Hurricane Florence hits, Jasper Newborn, who founded the shelter in 1990, hopes that the city's homeless population fills his shelter's beds.(Photo11: Sam DeGrave)

In east Kinston, not far from one of the city’s subsidized housing developments, Michael Weathington, 53, sat waiting for a ride on the porch of his home — a humble abode of whitewashed wooden siding beneath a rust-tinged metal roof.

Weathington said he witnessed Hurricane Matthew, and as far as he’s concerned he can live through another hurricane just as well, even if Florence is supposed to be bigger and more dangerous.

“I don’t have a car, and my whole family is here. Where else I got to go?” he said while he waited on a friend to pick him up. “I’m just going to ride it out.”

At least two emergency shelters have opened in or near Kinston to house those who might be displaced by the storm.

Business is booming: Though Chef & the Farmer is closed until Hurricane Florence passes, the men who worked Wednesday to cover the restaurant's doors and windows with plywood are seeing plenty of business. The Kinston restaurant was one of several businesses that they've boarded shut in the past several days, they said.(Photo11: Sam DeGrave)

Different circumstances, different impacts

Travis Quinn, director of sales for Kinston’s Mother Earth Brewing, has lived in eastern North Carolina his whole life. He grew up in Kenansville, a small town about 45 mins south of Kinston, where he now lives.

Quinn is no stranger to hurricanes, and while he isn’t evacuating, he said he and the brewery staff are preparing for a walloping.

“This is not our first hurricane, and it’s not something that we take lightly. We’ve seen what these storms can do,” he said.

When, in 2016, Hurricane Matthew caused the Neuse River to overflow its banks, U.S. 70 was closed for nearly a week, Quinn said. This made it difficult for the brewery to supply its distributor in Charlotte.

Other businesses, like the Red Carpet Inn and Suites, which sits on the banks of the Neuse closed indefinitely after Matthew.

“The threat of another large storm coming through is really challenging for the community as a whole,” Quinn said.

But as Knight pointed out while standing outside of Chef & the Farmer, some people and businesses are better suited to absorb the damaging impacts of major storms.

Get out: At three separate press conferences Wednesday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper warned anybody who would listen to evacuate if they're in Hurricane Florence's path.(Photo11: Sam DeGrave)

Large farming companies, for instance, can likely roll with Hurricane Florence’s punches. Family farmers, on the other hand, could be ruined if the storm wreaks havoc on their crops, Knight said.

While some consider the economic impacts of the storm, as rightfully they should, there are others — in some cases living right down the road — who are simply hoping to make it out of the storm alive. Clower is among them.

“I’m really worried about the storm,” he said standing outside of a convenience store, where he works odd jobs in exchange for snacks, like Hot Pockets. “I want to cry. All I can do is put my hands together and ask God to keep me safe.”

The sign says it all: Much of Kinston sits adjacent to the Neuse River, which in heavy rain bursts its banks and, in the past, has devastated the community.(Photo11: Sam DeGrave, USA TODAY NETWORK)

Elsewhere in eastern North Carolina

In the small community of Kelly in Bladen County, roughly 90 miles southwest of Kinston, some have chosen not to leave because they, too, don’t have the resources, said Charles Russ, the former fire chief who now runs Kelly General Store.

Areas nearby flooded heavily two years ago during Matthew, Russ said. Kelly’s less than 15 minutes from Pender County, where officials have called a mandatory evacuation, leaving flyers wedged in the cracks of doors.